Valentine's Day Awesomeness!

In the spirit of saving time, hassle, and money, I asked the kids if they would like to be hubby's and my restaurant for Valentine's Day this year. They responded with an enthusiastic "YES!!!"

Here's what we did:

I bought wild-caught lobster tails for me and natural steak for hubby. Our 9-year-old drew up a super adorable menu, calling the lobster and steak "Surfin' and Turfin' " (see picture below).

He also planned side, beverage, and dessert choices. We determined that he would be the chef and would do most of the cooking (with a little help from me), Zoe (6) would be the server/waitress, Devon (4) would be the busboy, and Carrie (2) would be the hostess.

As the time for hubby to arrive home drew near, we began preparations. The kids helped set the table, Chef Troy prepped the salad and side veggies, and I got the lobster ready and seared the steak, so Troy would just have to pop it in the oven while we were eating our salads.

While he did most of the prepping, I dipped washed and thoroughly-dried (Remember my post from yesterday? Chocolate and water do not get along!) strawberries in 1/2 cup dark chocolate, melted with 2 tsp. palm shortening and set them up on a sheet of waxed paper to dry.

Here's what the table looked like:

The flowers were added by hubby when he got home - roses for me and tulips for each of the girls!

The dinner was great! Hubby and I walked out to his car to pretend we were walking into a restaurant. Carrie greeted us at the door and led us to our seats, giving us our menu. Troy pushed our seats in for us, and Zoe was quick to introduce herself, saying, "My name's Zoe, and I'll be taking care of you tonight." Cute! Devon wasn't really into helping much, but he did do a little dance for us.

Troy poured us some wine, and we "ordered" our salads. Zoe brought them out and the Chef put the lobster and steak in the oven.

The steak and lobster were a bit over-done when we ate them, and the baby squash was as well, but, overall, it was a wonderful dinner, mainly because we know it was made with love by our great kids!